Having been "housebound" in the past week for three days, we watched a lot of movies on our Bell ExpressVu satellite television system. It is times like these when we are very thankful that we aren't prisoners of cable TV. We like having a readily available menu of what's on and when it's on as well as information about each individual program without having to rely on a paper TV guide.

Our decision to watch movies is because there isn't a lot else on TV that isn't bombarded with commercials, which we liken to "junk mail" or "spam" that fills most peoples traditional and computer mailboxes. We don't subscribe to Pay-per-View movies, however the ones we see are still very recent and on the regular movie channels. It also allows us to not be subjected to the mindless talk shows, reality shows or newscasts that concentrate on sensationalizing other people's misfortunes.

It's difficult to determine which movies to watch based on the descriptions and we certainly can't rely on the critic's ratings. We have come to the conclusion that they give high ratings only to movies where an actor's ability is considered above average but not to the entertainment value of the movie. More than once we have started to watch a highly rated movie only to lose interest out of boredom. At the opposite end of that spectrum, we have found poorly rated movies to capture our interest from beginning to end. Consequently, it is often a hit or miss for us when deciding what will entertain us. Though TV watching is not a recommended full-time pastime, when one is housebound it certainly helps to get through a day and I would like to be so bold as to suggest that watching a decent movie can be preferable to the alternatives. Happy viewing folks!